Arrangement of layouts



United States Patent C) 2,9-9.6802 ARRANGEMENT OF IZAYOU'IS Ernest de Masi and Amerigo de Masi, Brooklyn, N.Y'., assignors to De; Masi, Schematics,.lnc., Long. Island City, N'.Y;, a corporation of, New York,

Filed Mar. 28, 1960, Ser. No. 17, 319; 8 Claims. c1. 33-1) The. P sent. inventionis directed, to. the. pr d ction. of diagrammatic representations for the purpose of PIQVidp-.-

ing plans of various types such as electrical circuits, plant layouts, piping and apparatus; systems. 91. chemical plants, and many others.

In the past'in making an engineering, layout, it started with the project engineer who made sketches which, were turned over to the draftsman for" layout, in pencil, then to the technician forthe construction of the prototype equipment. The technician and draftsman work in close cooperation for the eventual'change to be made. When the equipment is finished then the'technical illustrator (artist) takes it, over.. He uses: the pencil layout" for reference and from then on makes an ink tracing, but most of the time the drawing has to be done over in pencil and then in ink for final printing, to be published in the instruction manual. These went back through various steps and when changes had to be made, which was invariably the case, the cycle had to be repeated and the drawings had to be done over in many instances. This was quite expensive and time consuming. Attempts have been made to simplify the system by providing preformed single elements which the artist could use as part of his drawings, but it did not eliminate the bulk of his work and in many instances these elements could not be reused.

The present invention is intended and adapted to overcome the difficulties and disadvantages inherent in the prior art, it being among the objects of the invention to provide a system of making drawings for layouts which does not require any hand work of artists, draftsmen or technicians.

It is also among the objects of the invention to provide blocks with engraved symbols which, when connected and assembled form a complete plan or layout.

It is further among the objects of the invention to provide elements which may be transparent, non-transparent, or opaque, and which may, after being assembled, be photographed by offset or by contact printing, and wherein the elements may thereafter be disassembled and reused many times in various arrangements.

In the practice of the invention, the elements consist of blocks, each of which may be of steel, plastic, wood, ceramic and others. Grooves are cut into the top surface of the block and they are filled with a pigment of contrasting color, the grooves constituting a representation of an element. For instance, the block may be white and the symbol of black material. Connecting elements, also in the form of blocks or strips of steel or other materials are provided and the blocks are so formed as to fit into each other. When the blocks are transparent, contact prints may be made from the assembly, and when they are non-transparent, offset prints or copy camera may be used.

The invention is more fully described in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which like reference characters indicate like parts, and in which- FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a block representing an element of an electrical layout or system, which is used in the following description as illustrating the principles involved;

FIG. 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a block which represents: a different electrical element;

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of still another block which represents a connecting wire for an electrical circuit;

FIG. 6 is an end view of the block of FIG. 5 taken; along line 6-6 to the right of FIG. 5;

7 is an exploded plan view of a, number of; blocks, about to be assembled to show a completed at, rangement, and

FIG. 8 is a view showing the final. result, after; the; completed assembly has been photographed and printed.

'Ihedrawing is directed to that form ofrthe invention:

which relates to the. production of, electrical'circuits, to: illustrate the principles involved herein, but'the, invention is not to. be limited thereto.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is provided a block; llmade of transparent synthetic. plastic material and rectangular in form, although thisand other blocksmayhe; of any desired or necessary form dependingon the-,item; which is depicted. A groove 2 is formed. in the. upper: surface thereof having a sinuous portion 4 and representing a resistor. The groove is filled with an opaque composition or ink, and often it is black for ease in photographing. At the ends of groove 2 are slots 5 and 6. There is also provided a recess 7 open at one end and closed at 8; and a slide 9 having data thereon is adapted to in into the recess. The slide has the indicia in opaque numerals, letters or symbols. Another recess 10, in this case open at both ends of the block is adapted to accommodate slide 11 which is also furnished with opaque indicia. Thus the block assembly can contain not only the resistor but also other data.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 there is shown a similar transparent block 12 having grooves 13 filled with opaque material and representing a capacitor. Slots- .14 are formed at the ends of grooves 13. FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a wire element, the shape of the block 15 being elongated and having a groove 16 filled with opaque material. At the ends of groove 16 are extensions 17 which are complementary to and are adapted to fit into such slots as 5, 6 and 14 to show a continuation of the elements such as 4 or 13.

FIG. 7 indicates the elements of an electronic tube circuit. Block 18 has a circular groove 19 on the upper face thereof and a pair of oppositely placed T-shaped grooves 20 within the circular groove. A V-shaped groove 21 is placed at one side of the circular groove. All the grooves are filled with opaque material. Slots 22 and 23 in the ends of the block contact the end of the legs of T-shaped grooves 20 and extensions 24 and 25 of wire elements similar to that of FIG. 5 are adapted to fit into slots 22 and 23. Slots 26 and 26' are formed in the side of block 18 to contact the ends of V-shaped groove 21. Elongated block 27 has bent ends 28 and 29, with grooves 30 filled with opaque material. End 28 is adapted to fit into slot 26. A second tube block 18' is placed opposite block 18 and end 29 is adapted to fit into slot 26 thereof. A second elongated block 27 is placed opposite elongated block 27.

Then the several elements are assembled by inserting ends 28 and 29 of blocks 27 and 27' into slots 26 and 26' of blocks 18 and 18. Projections 24 and 25 are inserted into slots 22 and 23 of blocks 18 and 18. The assembly is then contact printed and the result is shown in FIG. 8 on print 31, being a complete circuit without the necessity of any hand drafting.

While the invention has been described with the slots in those blocks which contain the symbols and the extensions in those which are connectors, the slots and extensions may be reversed, which is considered to be the equivalent. Also the blocks may be opaque with the grooves filled with contrasting colors. The grooves may be quite shallow or the opaque lines may be formed on the surface of the block. These and similar variations are inherent in the present invention.

9 We claim:

1. A layout arrangement comprising a plurality of blocks having grooves on one face thereof, said grooves being" filled with material contrasting with that of said blocks, said grooves constituting a symbol of a piece of apparatus, a slot in at least one end of said block and being a continuation of said groove, at least one connector having an extension fitting into said slot, said extension having a groove filled with material contrasting with that of said connector.

2; An arrangement according to claim 1 characterized in thatat least one symbol block has a recess on one face thereof, and a slide bearing indicia in said recess. 1 .3. An arrangement according to claim 1 characterized in that said symbol blocks are transparent and said groove filling material is opaque.

-'4. An arrangement according to claim 1 characterized in that both said symbol and connector blocks are opaque, and said groove filling material is of photographically contrasting color.

5. An arrangement according to claim 2 characterized in that said recess extends from one edge of said symbol block and terminates in said block.

6. An arrangement according to claim 2 characterized in that saidj'recess extends from edge to edge of said block.

7Q An arrangement according to claim 2 characterized in that said recess is in the same face of said symbol block as said'groove..' g g 8. An arrangement according to claim 1 characterized V in'that said'slot extends throughout the thickness of said blocks.

References Cited-in the file of this patent UNITED? STATES PATENT-8' 

